Days out diary - child friendly and family activities

Family days out Baby Elephant at Twycross Zoo Family days out Thomas land and children railways Family days out UK self catering holidays Family days out Legoland Windosor Family days out fun with boats Family days out Lake district cruise on Lake Windermere Family days out childrens farm

Keeping young children entertained on long car journeys is a challenge. I should know, driving my toddler daughter for a 30 to 60 minute drive between home and nursery each day. Our daughter loves drawing, but giving her crayons in the car generally means that they end up all over the car. So seeing a Colour Doodle I bought it straight away.

The Colour Doodle has a magnetic screen which changes from white to colour when the magnetic pen or magnetic shapes are pressed against it. It is then wiped clean by moving the slider across. Although the screen has multiple colours there is no way of changing the colours, it is just a colour pattern which shows when drawn on. It is however brighter and better than the grey colour used by the original Magna Doodle. Saying that the build quality and resolution is not as good on the Colour Doodle. For a toddler this one is ideal.

The pen is connected to the board by string, which means that it doesn't get lost, especially useful when your child is held in a car seat so cannot pick up any dropped pens. Unfortunately the same doesn't apply to the shapes, which are easily dropped and disappear for weeks at a time :-(

The board can be wiped clean when dirty, although it can be a bit tricky to clean inside if anything is spilt on it (or your child is sick as happened with us).

Despite a few flaws this is great for keeping young children entertained. It's build quality isn't great, but it is reasonably priced and just what it needed for toddlers.

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